What is an ordinary day in the life of Queen Elizabeth II like?

According to journalists, the British queen has only one day of rest a year and it is at Christmas. In all others, she works equally, and these days differ from each other only in the number of events planned on the journey. The Queen, however, sometimes has days off, with no meetings scheduled.

At the awesome.club we try to reconstruct a working day of Elizabeth II from dawn to dusk.

Usually, the Queen wakes up around 8:30 am, and at exactly 9:00 am her personal secretary hands her the famous red folder, which contains reports from the special services, intelligence and various government offices.

At the same time, under his window, a person plays melodies on a harmonica. The role of the harmonica player emerged at the beginning of the 20th century, at the time of Queen Victoria.

Meanwhile, the Queen’s husband finishes his breakfast, while Her Majesty prefers to eat breakfast alone.

It’s not easy to figure out what Elizabeth II’s breakfast consists of. Its cooks and servants do not communicate with the press, although some dismissed employees have given interviews and revealed some details. For example, a former royal cook said that breakfast at Buckingham Palace is no different than that of ordinary British citizens:

corn flakes; Dry fruits; Toast with jam; Boiled egg; tea with milk

During breakfast, the Queen reads the daily newspapers with the most important articles already highlighted by her secretary. It is well known that the royal family attaches great importance to its image in the press and this is due to the old concept of the ideal monarch: all members of the family who appear in photographs in newspapers or magazines must look perfect. Otherwise, true discontent will be communicated to the editorial department quickly.

But Elizabeth II is not alien to irony and tends to treat caricatures with humor, as long as they are of high quality.

After breakfast, the Queen examines the contents of the red folder and begins to write letters. This is done with a special pen and paper. Elizabeth II thanks every person who visited her, as well as the heads of state of countries where she visited on the occasion of official events.

In addition, the Palace receives a huge number of letters from ordinary citizens. Senders are very different: British, American and even Mexican. Responding to everyone is also considered a royal duty.

Of course, the cards are many, so Elizabeth II has a specially trained lady of the court to help her.

If the day is relatively free, the Queen walks her favorite Corgi. Sometimes she cooks her own food: rabbit meat or chicken with spices.

It is noteworthy that there are no longer any purebred dogs of the Corgi breed at court. In 2018, the last pet of this breed died. The remaining dogs are called “Dorgis” and are a cross between Corgis and Dachshunds.

What the queen likes to do most is horseback riding, an activity she has not stopped practicing, despite her age. Her Majesty never puts on a jockey’s helmet; she prefers a silk scarf. Also, every day she reads the newspaper Racing Post, dedicated especially to horse breeders.

The Queen loves to drive her car, but she only drives her green Jaguar alone on her farms. Interestingly, in this case too, Elizabeth II has her own style: she never puts on her seat belt when it comes to taking a walk.

On her breaks, the queen usually spends time fishing. This passion was obviously inherited from her father, who was an avid fisherman. She shares this hobby with her husband, Prince Philip. However, he is indifferent to horses.

Among the monarch’s famous hobbies is gardening. Elizabeth II grows beets with her own hands, as well as kidney beans and leeks. She believes that, with her example, she will instill in the British a passion for growing organic vegetables and fruits.

At 16.00 the whole family has tea with snacks and cookies. According to the chef, Elizabeth II loves cookies filled with fruit or chocolate. She also loves ginger and honey.

The invariable attributes of the tea ceremony are the “jam pennies”: dime-sized sandwiches made from bread and filled with raspberry jam.

In general, the tea ceremony is held in a separate space, where only important people are received. This is another tradition: the Queen is extremely polite to those around her, but she also keeps aloof from everyone else, as evidenced by the fact that she has never given an interview to reporters.

Around 6 pm, just before dinner, the Queen takes a bath. This is an ancient habit of the monarchs of England. In the morning she also takes a shower, but uses colder water to receive energy, and at night she opts for a warmer temperature.

Every good dinner is preceded by an aperitif. Her Majesty chooses gin and Dubonnet, while her husband prefers beer. The family members’ tastes are different, but they agree on one thing: none of them like champagne. The curiosity, in this case, is that the Windsor property started to produce its own sparkling wine.

For dinner, dishes made from game or fish caught on the farm are usually served. The queen treats exotic food coldly.

By the way, there is a semi-mythical story on this topic. One day, Elizabeth II sent a slice of lemon that no one had eaten during dinner to the kitchen, asking them to use it in another dish. It’s not meanness: the queen grew up in wartime and knows what hunger is. Therefore, she does not like to have food thrown away.

The evening usually ends with official receptions, which begin around 7:30 pm and last well into the night. If there are no events on the agenda, the queen can spend the rest of her time watching TV. She goes to sleep around midnight, to recover for the next day, which will be similar to the previous one.

At the awesome.club, we were impressed with the physical activity adopted by Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 93. Few people that age can boast of doing things like horseback riding. What fact about the British monarch surprised you the most? Tell us in the comments section.